Lighting!!

Here at Studio 217, we have a tendency to do things in a big way. Lighting is no exception. We were approached by a designer and asked to create a 9 foot tall industrial steel pendant light. Kenneth has a tendency to say, "Yes" to everything and I am very glad that he did! The results for this piece were stunning and it was such a great learning experience for us. This design also gave life to many other lighting designs. The process for creating this light will remain a secret but I will disclose the final product and the installation details.

The piece is an 9 foot, hand-constructed arrangement of 20 gauge steel with a hand rubbed patina and features a single LED light at the top.

Finished product in the studio

My favorite part about this large pendant is the shadows it casts once lit. The random patterns create an array of designs on the flow beneath. The top and bottom are hand rolled pieces of steel that help accentuate the oblong shape. 

Installation was another tricky part of this project. We had to install an 80 lb pendant at the top of a 18 foot ceiling in the clients foyer. 

…On a single, very unsteady ladder

Post installation: Daytime

At Night

The view when standing directly underneath 

This light is 9 feet tall and 2 feet wide at its widest point and constructed of 20 gauge steel. It has one, dimmable LED light. 

Custom sizes, shapes and patinas are available for custom pieces. If interested, please contact hello@studio217.com or visit Studio217.com for more information. 

Bar Height Kitchen Table

We had this table top laying around for a while and had to find a solution for it. It was such a beautiful combination of old growth pine from reclaimed wood and Nogal so Ken designed it to be a bar height kitchen table to showcase its natural elements.

Glued up

Pre Finish

For the base, Ken designed a fabricated a simple design that would incorporate some industrial elements. We hand forged the base design and stabilized it with a bar. 

Pumping Steel

When you put the two together, you get this great table.  

Final Product

Detail

This table is L 60.25 x W 31.75 x H 36.25 and weighs 225 lbs. 

This table is currently on display at Lost Antiques in Design District, Dallas and listed online. It is available for purchase. For further information or custom work, please email hello@studio217.com 

Commissioned Sculpture

This project came to us from my dear friend Lesli Marshall. Lesli owns Articulation Art (articulationart.com) here in Dallas, Texas. She specializes in commercial and residential design with a wide range of services. Lesli was designing the lobby for SmartStart headquarters in Grapevine, Texas. The client had an awkward, empty space in the lobby that he wanted to fill with a large sculpture the incorporated wood and steel. The sculpture was to be 6 feet wide, up to 9 feet tall and incorporate organic shapes of both steel and exotic woods.

The sculpture renderings

Now that we had a design, we had to learn how to bend wood. Since we were using exotic hard woods, we were going to have to veneer the wood but we were unsure how to bend the wood efficiently. Ken came up with a brilliant idea to use our factory cart as a stand for a giant peg board that would house steel rods to bend the wood around. We used the Laguna CNC to cut the massive peg board.

Cutting the giant peg board

Before I gridded every hole on the peg board for reference points

The first wood that we bent was the Cedar. The Cedar was almost one inch thick and an estimated 8 inches. Our plan was to veneer a 12 foot long piece of wood, wrap it, stick it in a vacuum bag, position it on the peg board accordingly and remove all the air from the bag. This all had to be done within the 15 minute cure time. Simple right? Did I mention that this was our first time doing any of this? Nonetheless, we managed to make it all work and have a great time in the process. 

Bending the Cedar

We used the same process with the Ash and Cherry but bent them differently. 

Bent Cedar and Ash once out of the vacuum bag

Success!!! 

Perhaps the hardest piece we saved for last. The piece of Cherry was almost 13 feet long! 

Bending the Cherry

With all the wood pieces bent, we had to concentrate on the steel elements for the sculpture. We rolled .5 inch steel and chose our Shipyard patina to compliment the different tones of the exotic woods. The final step was to assemble all the pieces together. We were so pleased with the results.

Layered Cedar (bottom), Ash (middle), and Cherry (top)

Steel detail

Finished product

In its new home at SmartStart

The sculpture ended up being 8.5 feet wide and 9.5 feet tall. 

Big thanks to Lesli at Articulation Art for the opportunity to be a part of such a fun project. 

For more information or to commission a design for a sculpture, please contact hello@studio217.com

The Nine Foot Version

We did a 9 foot version of the garden bench for a custom jeweler located in the Design District. Since we were working with the buyer, we let him pick the very reclaimed beam that would be showcased in his waiting area. He chose a beautiful beam with a lot of character and requested that we smooth out the rough edges of the beam. The end result was a beautiful, nine foot long garden bench that showcased the raw, reclaimed wood perfectly.

The chosen beam all smoothed out

Detailed end

Bases added

Center cut reclaimed pine

For more information or for a custom sized garden bench, please contact hello@studio217.com

Wood and Diamonds

Our neighbor, here, in the Design District creates amazing custom jewelry using all types of jewels, materials and styles. He has a client that wanted something a little different when creating a pair of earrings. He asked us to come up with some wood samples for a tear drop earring design. We chose a mystery wood that is consistent with a south american hardwood, peruvian walnut and old growth pine. 

Wood Samples

Final Product

Who would have thought that wood and diamonds complimented each other so well? 

Clever Signage

Our friend Steve Jordan at Steve Jordan Design had a unique sign project where he needed the help of Studio 217. He was creating an outdoor sign for a house that was located on a golf course. Over the years, his client had collected many stray golf balls and wanted to showcase them using his favorite logos. Our job was simple, we had to mill the two large signs using the CNC machine. Each hole you see is designed to showcase a golf ball.

Custom Sign

Our job was done after this. However, I feel compelled to show the final product because it turned it out so well.

Base paint

Final coat plus the balls

Final Product

This is such a unique and clever idea and we were happy to be a part of it.

Indoor Bench (Piece #53)

We just finished with our oversized, massive Garden benches (here) so we wanted to make something a little more sleek that could be used indoors. We cleaned up a reclaimed beam and positioned it atop steel bases that are hand forged from recycled steel. The bases are sealed with an oxidized patina. The beam was then hand rubbed with oil to maximize the woods true character.

The bench weighed in at one of our lightest pieces at 170 lbs. This bench is for indoor use only. 

The bench is available for purchase and is on display at Lost Antiques in the Design District, Dallas. For more information or a custom quote, please contact hello@studio217.com . 

Garden Bench (Piece #51)

We had these amazing, over sized beams that could be used for indoor use due to some oil in the wood that would prevent us from sealing it. With beams that date back to the 1800s, you run into problems like these. Luckily, we came up with a solution to use the beams and showcase their natural beauty. Where is a better place to do this but the great outdoors? We used an 16" tall by 16" deep reclaimed beam from a Historical Site in Fort Worth, Texas. We designed some steel framed bases that would cradle the beam and create a garden bench.

Beautiful grain

Center cut detail

Steel bases

The bases are unfinished steel forged from recycled steel. The bench is designed for a garden setting and therefore, both the beam and steel have been prepared in a way to quickly patina in an outdoor setting. The bases may be repositioned along the length of the beam as desired. Below is a picture of them moved out a bit closer to the edge.

Versatile legs

All around versatile… and sturdy

This bench weighs in at 750 lbs and is designed for outdoor use only. Dimensions of the one pictured are:
Beam alone- L 81" x D 16" x H 16"
Total Structure- L 81" x D 24" x H 20.5"

Additionally, we have another one with the same design already constructed that is slightly smaller. The dimensions for the smaller version are:
Beam alone- L 72" x D 16" x H 16.75"
Total Structure- L 72" x D 24" x H 20.5"

Both benches are available for purchase. For more information or custom design, please contact Chelsea@studio217.com .